BSN at the government
Governmental organisations are allowed to use your citizen service number (BSN) for the performance of their tasks. Provided that your BSN is necessary for doing so. This is the case, among other things, if you have a concrete question about your personal situation. But do you only ask, for example, for general information in a telephone call with your municipality? Then it is not necessary for the municipality to ask for your BSN.
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Organisations with government tasks
There are also governmental organisations that perform a government task on behalf of a ministry. These organisations are allowed to use your BSN for the performance of that specific task. An example of this is the Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing (Dutch abbreviation: CBR).
Register of governmental organisations
Sometimes it is not immediately clear if an organisation is part of the government. Are you in doubt? You can find the Register of Governmental Organisations on Overheid.nl. Is the organisation in that register? Then it is a governmental organisation that is allowed to use your BSN.
Examples of use of the BSN by the government
- The Tax and Customs Administration is allowed to ask for your BSN if you call the Tax Information Line (Belastingtelefoon) with a concrete question about your specific situation.
- Do you send a letter to the municipality with a request or a question about your personal situation? Then the municipality is allowed to ask you to state your BSN in the letter. Do you have a general question to the municipality, for example about waste? Then you do not have to state your BSN.
Providing the BSN to the government
Sometimes organisations that are not part of the public sector have to provide your BSN to the government. This is allowed if there is a law that says so. In that case, they are allowed to ask you for your BSN first. Examples are:
Rent allowance
Do you rent a house? And do you want to apply for rent allowance? Then you have to pass on your BSN to your landlord. Your landlord provides the Tax and Customs Administration with information, such as the rental price of your house.
Your landlord has to include your BSN in that information. This is provided by law. This enables the Tax and Customs Administration to check whether you are entitled to rent allowance.
Childcare allowance
Is your child going to a registered day nursery? And do you want to apply for childcare allowance? Then you have to pass on your BSN and the BSN of your child to the day nursery.
The Tax and Customs Administration will then check annually whether the childcare allowance received by you matches the number of hours of childcare actually used by you.
Note: Is your child going to childcare outside a registered day nursery? Then you are not entitled to childcare allowance. In that case, the childcare organisation is not allowed to ask for your and/or your child's BSN.
Legal assistance
Do you get help from a volunteer organisation? For example, legal assistance? Then this organisation is allowed to process your BSN if this is necessary.
For example, if the organisation files your tax return or submits a notice of objection to the municipality on your behalf (in the form of a power of attorney). Your BSN is necessary for this purpose. In that case, the organisation is allowed to ask you for your BSN for this specific purpose.